Tag Archives: focus

John Spence talks about the four things he sees most often holding back his clients. If I were to simplify it even further it would be the “lack of focus” and “lack of talent”. Without those two you can’t address the others…

Like this:

This is something I work on every day. If somebody asks me to do something, sometimes their lucky if I remember what it was half an hour later. I get distracted easily. But the research consistently shows that we’re at our best when we’re focused on one thing at a time.

Sometimes you have to multitask. Sometimes your job is interruptions or multiple balls-in-the-air juggling. But as much as you can. Do one thing at a time.

Like this:

I call it an addiction, because it gives us the hit of feeling like we’re accomplishing something when we’re actually being distracted from the most important things we do that bring value to the company. Not sure I agree with Jim Schleckser on the “Do Nothing” suggestion, but you should certainly set up rules for your in-box. My favourite one is “If I’m not on the To: list, file it. ” Saves a lot of time not reading CYA (Cover Your Ass) emails.

One tactic I’d add would be to turn off your notifications and chimes that tell you when a new email has arrived. That really is an interruption that will destroy your productivity faster than just about anything else.

Like this:

We can’t and don’t manage time. The first time I read that from David Allen I had to put the book down and have a think:

you don’t manage five minutes and wind up with six;

you don’t manage information overload – otherwise…the first time you connected to the Web…you’d blow up; and

you don’t manage priorities, you have them.

What we manage is our focus (HOW we spend our time) and energy

So with this in mind, I present to you the three books on “time management” that make the most sense to me. These are not books on how to use Microsoft Outlook to be more efficient. Frankly I feel like those kinds of courses that often end up teaching people to do useless work faster are more of the “blaming the victim” mentality.

These are books on getting the right things done and still having a life.

I do them all a disservice by skimming only one or two ideas from each, but that’s enough for now. If you want more, go read them yourself. I suggest you read them in order presented here (going from simplest to sophisticated), but that’s up to you.

“Eat That Frog!” – Brian Tracy

Big Idea: Do the most important, hardest, least pleasant, or most procrastinated task first. Getting that done gives you energy and motivation for the rest of the day

This is based on the Mark Twain quote “Eat a live toad first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day”. It doesn’t sound very appetizing. But by doing so you release stress, gain momentum, and are free to do what you want for the rest of the day. And actually do the stuff you need to get done. If you have more than one frog, eat the biggest ugliest one first. If you can’t decide which that is, pick the one you’ve been putting off the longest.

“Getting Things Done” – David Allen

Big Idea: Keep all your commitments in one place, review them regularly. If a task would take less than two minutes to do, just do it right now.

As you scan everything that’s coming at you, decide if you’re going to file it (for reference), give it to somebody else (delegate it), forget (trash) it, or do it. If it’s going to take less than two minutes then just do it now. The effort of tracking it is going to take more than two minutes of your time anyway. Otherwise put it on your calendar (because it has a deadline) or on your to-do list (because it doesn’t matter when you do it).

Here’s the secret sauce: keep your system up-to-date. Having a system is useless if you don’t use it on a regular basis. This is the stress many of us feel when we’re overwhelmed – your brain trying to remind you of all the things you’re supposed to keep track of. And it’s not very good at it. So it makes your life miserable.

If everything’s in one place, in a trusted system (you review it regularly) your brain can shut up about what it thinks it’s forgotten. Now you can focus on actually getting things done.

“The Effective Executive” – Peter Drucker

Big Idea: Put your ladder against the right wall.

You can be the fastest ladder-climber in the world, but if your ladder is leaned against the wrong wall, then your ability to climb ladders is wasted. Likewise all that frog eating and getting things done. Think about your strategy and consequently what you’re going to spend your time on, and you’ll be an effective executive.

There’s so much more in this book, of course. It’s one of the most practical books by the most influential management theorist and practitioner of the last century. I learn something new on every page every time I read it. Some other topics he covers:

effective executives know where their time goes

they focus on contributions and results

they build on strengths instead of trying to fix weaknesses

they do first things first (and second things second if at all)

they make effective decisions (and he describes in great detail what that looks like)

So, here are your undergrad, graduate, and post-graduate courses in time management and effectiveness. Have fun.

…because doing one thing at a time, and getting it done, is faster that moving between a whole bunch of little things quickly. Again, as often, self-awareness and catching yourself doing that unhelpful thing is the key to change and getting better every day…

I believe that there are two responsibilities a CEO cannot give away or delegate: deciding who works for them, and the strategy / vision / direction of the company. Which is interesting, because I make my living helping companies build and execute strategic priorities.

Really, if I think about it, my role is to create the habit of strategic thinking and execution inside their companies. Not just an event that happens once a year. I consider myself successful when I’ve worked myself out of a job. My clients “graduate” when they exercise disciplined strategic review and energetic execution for themselves.

How do I know when their ready? First, they have priorities. Second, the way they spend all their individual and company resources (time, money, materials, people) lines up with what they say their priorities are. Third, they are successful doing so (for whatever their definition of success is), and can vigorously confront or adjust for any obstacles to that execution.

If you need a little more strategic thinking in your organization / team / company / life, this article talks about the role of the strategist / strategy in a company:

Like this:

A 1992 article featuring the former Captain of the mighty New Zealand Rugby team, on building teams and leadership: once again the role of the leader in providing vision and focus is at the top of the list, but also the role of a leader in developing others as leaders, getting people into the right roles at the right time and then staying out of the way. Well worth a read.